Sultan to host night of Native storytelling

Roger Fernandes (above) and Lois Landgrebe (below) are Pacific Northwest tribal members who will appear in Sultan for an evening of Native American storytelling this weekend.

By Chris Hendrickson, Contributing Writer

The city of Sultan will host a Native American storytelling performance at Sultan City Hall in the community meeting room Saturday.

The event, which will take place at 7 p.m. on April 5, will feature Roger Fernandes and Lois Landgrebe, both of whom are well-known Native American storytellers.

Performance organizers are suggesting a $5 donation which is payable at the door on the evening of the event only.

The event is being coordinated by the Sky Valley Historical Society, the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Ethnic Heritage Council.

Fernandes is a member of the Lower Elwha Band of S’Klallam Indians. He is from a family of four brothers, all of who engage in various cultural activities including singing, basket-making, artwork and storytelling. He began storytelling with simple legends and broadened his scope to include stories of heroes and creation, as well as myths.

He teaches about Coast Salish art and has a degree in Native American Studies from Evergreen State College.

Fernandes performed at last year’s Return of the Salmon Celebration, which was held in September at Osprey Park in Sultan.

Landgrebe, who is from the Tulalip reservation, works at the Hibulb Cultural Center located in Tulalip. In addition to storytelling she also holds craft workshops and leads interpretive tours.

The mission of the Hibulb Cultural Center is to “revive, restore, protect, interpret, collect and enhance the history, traditional cultural values and spiritual beliefs of the Tulalip Tribes who are the successors in the interest to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie and Skykomish tribes and other tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott.”

This event is being funded in part through the National Endowment for the Arts, 4Culture, the Washington State Arts Commission and Northwest Heritage Resources.

For more information, contact the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce at 360-793-0983 or Northwest Heritage Resources at 206-306-1181.